Nuzlocke Variants — Every Major Ruleset Explained

A Nuzlocke variant keeps the two core rules — first encounter only, faint = death — and changes the rules around them: how encounters work, how teams are built, or how many players are involved. As one 2026 community video puts it, “the rules stayed the same, but the encounter variety changed drastically.”

How many variants exist? It depends where you draw the line between a “variant” and an “optional rule”: Bulbapedia lists about 9 core variant rulesets, Nuzlocke University maintains 23 (updated March 2025), and community videos count 50+ once you include rule mashups. This page covers the established core first, then the extended list.

The core variants

Hardcore Nuzlocke

Item use and over-levelling are restricted — no bag items in battle, and your Pokémon may not pass the next boss’s level. This is the community-standard difficult format. Full breakdown: Hardcore Nuzlocke rules.

Soul Link

A two-player cooperative Nuzlocke. Each Pokémon is “linked” to a partner Pokémon on the other player’s team — if one partner dies, so does the other. One of the most popular spectator formats. Full guide: Soul Link Nuzlocke.

Wedlocke

Pokémon are assigned into pairs or “couples” by gender. Couples fight together: when one member of a couple enters battle, you may only switch between that Pokémon and its partner until both are knocked out.

Egglocke

Caught Pokémon are replaced with Pokémon hatched from eggs, randomly generated by the player or sent in by other players, viewers or friends. Popular with streamers because the audience supplies the team.

Wonderlocke

Every Pokémon you catch must immediately be traded away on Wonder Trade, and you use whatever random Pokémon you receive instead. Possible from Pokémon X/Y onward, when Wonder Trade was added.

Monolocke (Monotype)

Only Pokémon of one chosen type may be caught and used — sometimes called the “gym leader challenge,” since you’re role-playing a type specialist.

Randomizer (Randomlocke)

The game’s encounters, and optionally moves, abilities and items, are randomized with a tool such as the Universal Pokémon Randomizer — then standard Nuzlocke rules apply. One of the earliest “encounter variety” variants. Full guide: Randomizer Nuzlocke.

Giftlocke

You may not catch Pokémon at all. The team is built only from the starter and gift Pokémon obtained without catching.

Generationlocke (Genlocke)

A multi-game marathon: play through each generation in order under standard Nuzlocke rules, and the surviving Champions of one generation become the starting team of the next.

The extended community list

Nuzlocke University’s regularly updated list adds these twists (descriptions condensed from their March 2025 version):

Variant	Twist
Apocalocke	An apocalyptic disaster theme decides which types you may use.
Trashlocke	“Good” Pokémon are banned; only “bad” Pokémon may be used.
Snaplocke	Half the Pokédex is “snapped” out of existence, usually by audience vote.
Uniquelocke	No two party Pokémon may share a type.
NOHKOlocke	A Pokémon that one-shots an opponent from full HP must be boxed or released.
Chesslocke	Limited catches, each assigned a chess-piece role with restrictions.
Zombielocke	Fainted Pokémon return as “zombies” healed only by sacrificing others.
Loserlocke	Only one/two-stage evolution lines, and regular Poké Balls only.
BallLocke	One Pokémon per type of Poké Ball.
Starlocke	Start with one Pokémon of each of the 18 types; no more may be obtained.
Sleeplocke	Finish the entire run in a single sitting — no real-life sleep.
Tasklocke	Nickname Pokémon after real-life chores you must finish before major battles.
Draftlocke	Multiple players draft types and race to finish; only drafted types allowed.
Tribelocke	Pokémon are caught and fight together in random-sized “tribes”.
Routelocke	Only Pokémon found on one chosen route may be used.
Taglocke	A Nuzlocke relay — each player completes a “leg”, then tags in the next.

Community threads add even more house-made ideas (No Evolutions runs, STAB-less runs, and so on). The list keeps growing — treat this page as a snapshot as of August 2026.

Which variant should you play?

First Nuzlocke ever: skip variants. Play the standard two rules, maybe with nicknames and Dupes/Shiny clauses.
Want more difficulty: Hardcore, then kaizo-style ROM hacks.
Playing with a friend: Soul Link or Taglocke.
Bored of the same encounters: Randomizer, Egglocke or Wonderlocke.
Streaming to an audience: Egglocke or Snaplocke — both let viewers shape your team.

Smogon’s introduction also maps variants to recommended games (for example Egglocke works from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald through Scarlet/Violet) — worth checking before you commit to a run.